RNG POWERS NEW FLEET SCANIA DOUBLE-DECK BUSES IN NOTTINGHAM

The U.K city of Nottingham has entered into service a new £17m double-deck bus fleet powered by renewable natural gas (RNG).

NCT’s new fleet will run on biomethane, a low-carbon transport fuel produced by anaerobic digestion (AD), a natural process that breaks down food waste, farm waste, and sewage to create a biogas that can then be upgraded to create a methane-based fuel. The UK AD industry has sufficient capacity today to produce enough biomethane to power over half of the UK’s entire bus fleet, and the use of biomethane for buses and heavy goods vehicles has increased in recent years in response to concerns over the cost of fossil-fuel-based fuels and their negative impact on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.

Nottingham’s biomethane buses, manufactured by Scania, form the world’s largest biogas double-deck fleet. When on the road, the buses will offer significant emissions reductions, with 3,500 tonnes less CO2, 36 tonnes less NOx and 0.75 fewer tonnes of fine particular matter emitted per annum.

When biomethane is used, emissions are 84% lower than their diesel counterparts, thereby making them the greenest buses on the road which are cleaner, quieter, and smoother.